Fratire

"Fratire" is a type of 21st-century non-fiction literature written for and marketed to young men in a politically incorrect and overtly masculine fashion. The term was coined following the popularity of works by George Ouzounian (writing under the pen name Maddox) and Tucker Max.[1] Described as a satirical celebration of traditional masculinity, the genre has been criticized for allegedly promoting sexism and misogyny.[2]

"Great Holy Jesus. Warren, that is awful. First off, I wasn't in a fraternity. Neither was Maddox. In fact, none of the writers you are profiling in your article was in a frat. Please, call it anything else."[4]

The term aimed to classify the recent publication of male-centric books that focused on alcohol and sexual themes. Publishers continued to push the genre as a sales tactic.[5] After the success of the books published by Max and Maddox, publishers and reporters attempted to capitalize on the trend with new iterations of the word, including "lad lit," "dicklit," "frat-lit" and "menaissance."[6][7]

Melissa Lafsky of The New York Times described the genre as "misogyny for sale."[8] Lafsky wrote that fratire authors were profiting by fueling young male anger concerning societal demands for equality. In a Salon.com interview, Ouzounian said his writing was a nostalgic parody of old-fashioned masculinity and that society had moved too far forward to return to those concepts.[9] In an interview with Public Radio International, Maddox offered the suggestion that the misogyny often associated with the genre of fratire had become more acceptable because women are stronger than they've ever been in society, and that singling out women as the only group not okay to lampoon is a sexist act in itself.[10] In a 2008 editorial, Kira Cochran of the New Statesman disputed that idea, stating there still remained much inequality between men and women. Cochran called the fratire genre a regression to old-fashioned sexism "presented under the veil of irony."[11]

Similarly, Rosalind Gill analyized 25 novels, including those by David Baddiel, Mike Gayle and Mark Barrowcliffe, and commented that "female characters are shown as facing no barriers or encumbrances to reaching the top of their chosen professions, and as 'having it all': their own homes, 'functional' relationships with family and friends, and plans for the future etc.", she claims that "feminism is indexed with the paradoxical purpose of repudiating it,"[12] and quotes Angela McRobbie's work on "taking feminism into account."[13] Gill also found an 'unheroic masculinity' in which men "are frequently portrayed as domestically inept, unable to cook, and left surviving on a diet of toast and pot noodle" which Gill describes as, "not so much a critique or rejection of hegemonic masculinity as a failure to inhabit it."[12]

^McRobbie, Angela (2004), "Notes on postfeminism and popular culture: Bridget Jones and the new gender regime", in Harris, Anita, All about the girl: culture, power, and identity, New York: Routledge, pp. 3–14, ISBN9780415947008.